Plow-adjusting mechanism.



H. A. HUNTOON.

PLOW ADJUSTING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY' 1, 191s.

Patented Nov. 11, 1913.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

l I? A A i 4 mmv/iR nlmfgim lllllllmlmmmlll Inventor:

H. A. HUNTooN.

. PLOW ADJUSTING MEGHANISM. K

APPLIOTLON FILED MAY 1, 1913. 1,078,285, Patented Nov. 11, 1913.

2 'SHEETS-SHEET 2.V

Mimmo@ 77u f V keine?j *l COLUMBIA PMNoaRAPH :0.,wASHlNG1oN D c nnrrnn sfrnrns N PATENT onirica,

HARRY A. HUNTOON, 0F FORT MADISON, IOWA, ASSIGNOR T0Y FORT MADISON PLOW COMPANY, .A CORPORAIIONk OF IOWA.

PLOW-ADJUSTING- VIVLElCI-IANISM.

Specication of Letters Patent.

. Patented Nov. 11,1913.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY A. HUNrooN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Fort Madison, county of Lee, and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Plow-Adjusting Mechanism, of which the following `is a specification.

rIhis inventio-n relates to wheeled plows, and the invention consists of an improved form of mechanism for raising and lowering the plow, and for controlling the depth o-f the furrow, which mechanism is adapted to be actuated by the feet of the driver so that his hands will be left free for the management of the team. Y

My improved mechanism is shown in the accompanying drawings as applied to a plow which is carried by a swinging bail mounted in a wheeled frame, my improved mechanism comprising two foot-levers connected with the bail for swinging the same to respectively raise and lower the plow, one of the foot-levers being provided with a latch for holding the lever and connected parts in position, and the said latch being connected with the other foot-lever so as to be automatically operated thereby. It. will b'e understood, however, that the mechanism is not limited in its application to a plow of this particular form; and further, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to any particular form or construction of the detailed parts, except in so far as such limitations are defined in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a top plan view of a wheeled plow, hav.- ing my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation, showing the foot-operated controlling mechanism on an enlarged scale, with the parts in the position they occupy when the plow is elevated. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional elevation of the same.v

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents the frame of the machine comprising the fore and aft frame bars 1a and 1b andthe rear cross bar 1c, which in the present instance is a lateral diagonal continuation of the frame bar 1l". At its front end at the furrow side, the frame is sustained by a swiveling furrow wheel 2; at the land side,

byl a land wheel 3; and at the rear, by ai swiveling caster wheel 4, which several partsmay beof any appropriate or wellknown construction and form, except in so far as they may cooperate with my improved mechanism.

5 represents a swinging bail comprising a central transverse bar 5a, crank arms 5b, 5c, extending rearwardly from the ends of the transverse bar, and journal arms. 5dl and 5e extending outwardly in` opposite directions fromthe ends of the crank arms.` This bail is mounted in the front portion of the frame, so that it may be swung on an axis coincident with the axes of the journal arms, the journal arm 5d on the land side being mounted in a bearing in a` hanger 6 fixed to the frame bar 1a, and the journal arm 5* on the furrow side being mounted in bearings in hangers 7 and 8 fixed to the frame bar 1b and to a bracket bar ld at the outer side of the frame bar. The journalarm 5d is extendedat the land side of the machine beyond the side of the frame, and has loosely j mounted on its extended end, a rearwardly extendingV arm 9 carrying a spindle 9a on which t-he land wheel 3 is mounted, the arm 9V being connected by `means of a spiral spring 10, to an adjusting lever 11 fulcrumed at its lower end on the journal arm 5d and provided with a locking dog 12 adapted to engage the teeth of a segment frame lfixed to the frame bar 1a. lBy means of this lever the land wheel may be adjusted up and down relatively to the frame of the machine for leveling the plow in the usual manner.

14 represents a plow beam carrying a low 15 and extending in a fore and aft irection between the frame bars 1' and 1b, the said beam being suspended from the transverse bar 5a of the bail by means of a bearing 141 fixed to the beam and loosely encircling -the bar 5, with the result that when the bail is swung in its bearings in the frame, the plow beam will be moved up and down. In rear of its connection with the bail 5, the beam is loosely connected with a guiding bail 16 mounted in bearings 16a, 16a, on the frame bars, so that when the front bail 5 is swung to raise and lower the plow, the beam will be guided and moved bodily up or down as the case may be.

17 represents an yupright foot-lever which is rigidly xed .at its lower end to the crank arm 5b of the bail 5 and is provided V,at its upper end with an inwardly extending horizontal transverse pivoting bolt 19. The

upright armv of the latch is provided with afhorizontal transversely extending footrest 18C at or about the level of the footrest 17 a before alluded to, by means of which foot-,rest 18c the latch may be released by the foot. The other arm of the latch is provided with a depending tooth 18d adapted `tofengage between teeth 20 on a segment frame 21 iixedto the frame bar 1', whereby the lever 17 and the parts connected thereto may be fixedly locked in position relatively to the frame of the machine.

vAs a result of the construction described, and assuming thatvthe parts are in the position of Fig. 1 with the plow raised and held by the locking latch 18, the driver by pushing forward with his foot against the footrest on the latch will rock the same on its pivotal connection with the foot-lever, and thereby lift the lockingl tooth free of the teeth on the fixed segment frame, t-hus releasing the lever. By the continued forward pressure of the foot, the foot-restof the latch will be forced into engagement with the foot-rest 17a of the foot-lever 17, and the continued pressure of the foot will rock llever 17 forwardly andthereby will swing lbail 5 downwardly and lower the plow. When vthe proper depth has been reached, the driver releases the pressure of his foot on the latch and the latter will be automat-ically rengaged with the teeth on the fixed segment frame, by means of a spring 22 fixed at one end to the latch in rear of its pivot-al support, and fixed at its other end to the foot-lever 17.

The elevation of the plow is effected by means of a second foot-lever 23 fulcrumed between its ends, by means of a horizontal transverse pivoting bolt 24, to the outer side ofthe foot-lever 17 Y closely adjacent-,to the journal arm 5d of the bail. This lever projects rearwardly where it isV provided with a lateral foot-rest 23a for operating it. Its forward end is extended upwardly and has pivotally connected with it, one end of a link 25, the upper end of which is pivot-ally connected with the horizontal arm of the latch, the construction being such thatV the lever 23 is bodily movable with the lever 17, and in addition to this movement it is capable of a relative limited movement on the fulcruming bolt, suilicient in extent to swing the locking latch on its axis and disengagethe same from the toothed segment frame. Assuming the plow to be in lowered position, and it is desired to elevate the same and lock it raised, the driver presses down with his foot on the foot-rest 23, with the result that the first motion of the lever 23 will be relative to the lever 17 and will release the locking latch 18, the continued pressure on the lever causing the foot-lever 17 to move with it and thereby swinging the bail upwardly, with the result that the plow will be elevated to the desired position. When this position is reached, the operator releases the pressure on lever 23, and spring 22 will act as before to rengage the locking latch with the toothed segment frame. It is seen, therefore, that the operator by resting his two feet respectively on the footrests of the two levers 17 and 23,V maintains perfect control over t-he plow and is enabled to raise or lower the same promptly and with facility, and to nicely adjust the depth of cut, while his hands are entirely free to manage'the draft team. The construction is simple in form, compact in arrangement, and effective in operation, the movement of the bail being positively edected by both levers, and the release of the parts to effect the adjustments and locking of the parts in the changed position, being effected automatically.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a wheeled plow, the combination of a frame, a plow sustained thereby and movable up and down, a foot-lever for raising the plow, a second foot-lever for lowering the plow, a latch on one of said foot-levers for locking the same in position, and a connection between said latch and the other foot-lever.

2. In a wheeled plow, the combination of a frame, an axle movably mounted therein, a plow connected with said axle, a footlever connected wit-h the axle for rocking the same to lower the olow, a second footlever connected with tlie axle for rocking t-he same to raise the plow, a latch on one of said levers to hold the same in its adjusted position, and a connection between the said latch and other lever.

3. In a wheeled plow, the combination of a frame, a plow mounted therein and movable up and down, a foot-lever for raising the plow, a second foot-lever for lowering the plow, a locking latch on the last-mentioned foot-lever for locking the lever in position, and a connection between said latch and the other lever.

4. In a wheeled plow, the combination of a wheeled frame, a swinging bail mounted therein, a plow connected with the bail, a foot-lever connected with the bail, a latch on .the lever to lock the same in position,

and a second foot-lever also connected with the bail and movable to a limited eXtent relatively thereto and connected with t-he latch.

5. In a wheeled plow, the combination of a frame, a swinging bail mounted therein, a plow connected with the bail, a lever connected with the bail, a foot-operated latch connected with the lever to hold the same in position, and a second lever connected with the bail and connected also with said latch.

6. In a wheeled plow, the combination of a frame, a swinging bail mounted therein, a plow connected with the bail, a foot-lever fixed to the bail for lowering the plow, a latch carried by said lever and adapted to lock the same in position, a second footlever connected with the bail" so as to have a limited movement relatively thereto, and

a connection between said second lever and the latch.

7. In a wheeled plow, the combination of a frame, a swinging bail mounted therein, a plow carried by the bail, a foot-lever fixed to the bail, a foot-operated latch mounted on the lever and adapted to hold the same in position, a second foot-lever fulcrumed between its ends o-n the bail so as to be movable to a limited extent relatively thereto, and a connection between the forward end of said lever and the latch.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand this second day of April, 1913, in the presence of two attesting witnesses.

' HARRY A. HUNTOON.

Witnesses:

J. II. SAMUELS, C. R. HULL.

Copies of thisV patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latents,

- Washington, D. C. l 

